Pip is a soon-to-be high school senior described as having sun-bleached brown hair, pale white skin, and muddy-green eyes. Her search for her identity is a major theme running throughout the book. She self-admittedly does not know who she is, which is revealed when she must write her college application personal essay. In writing the essay, Pip expresses that she is still searching for who she is amid her commitment to seeing through whatever task she chooses to focus on. Thus, the protagonist is discovering who she is even as she makes her way through the case.

As the book progresses, Pip comes to question her identity more based on the decisions she is forced to make. She becomes increasingly deceptive and wonders when she became a person who can lie so easily. She also encounters various dangerous situations that push her to confront how far she is willing to go for the case. These elements raise questions for both Pip and the reader about who she is based on the situations she must deal with.

Pip’s behavior throughout the book reveals several key characteristics about her. She is dogged and determined when she sets her mind to accomplishing a task.